Albus Potter: First Year
by bec3265
Summary: Albus Potter sets off on the Hogwarts Express with his cousin Rose Weasley for his first year at Hogwarts. What adventures and new friends await him? How will he cope with being the famous Harry Potter's son, and all the expectation that comes with it?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** All characters from the Harry Potter books belong to J.K Rowling and associated publishers. The world is hers, everything is hers. I thank her for giving us this world to play in.

A/N - Any suggestions for a title for the story are strongly welcome - titles have always been my weak point!

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The train chugged away from Kings Cross, Albus' parents faces getting smaller and smaller. He sighed and turned to his cousin Rose and suggested they find a compartment. He didn't want to watch as his parents disappeared into nothing. They couldn't find an empty one, so settled on the least intimidating carriage – there was only one other occupant, a dark haired, lanky boy who looked like he could be a first year. Albus slid the door open and stuck his head in.

'Mind if we sit here?'

The boy shook his head, looking alarmed, but also slightly grateful to have company.

Rose dragged her trunk in behind her and struggled to put it up into the racks. The boy stared at her a moment, then got up and helped her. Albus kind of wished he'd help him as well – the boy was rather tall and Albus wasn't exactly large for his age, while the trunk seemed very big and heavy as he was attempting to push it over his head.

'Thanks! I'm Rose Weasley by the way,' Rose said, sticking out her hand after they'd gotten the trunks up.

'Simon. Simon Black,' the boy said, still looking a bit stunned at the sight of Rose.

Albus gaped at him.

'Black? But I thought they were all dead?'

Simon looked confused and shook his head. 'No, there are a lot of us…and all alive, last I checked…which was about five minutes ago.'

Comprehension dawned on Rose's face before Albus'.

'Oh, are you Muggle-born?'

Simon frowned. 'Yeah, I guess. If you mean my parent's aren't wizards?'

'Yes! That explains it. Y'see the Black's were an old pureblood family, but they died out a few years ago…'

'I see,' Simon said, although he didn't look like he did in Albus' opinion. Simon looked at Albus expectantly.

'And you are?'

'Oh! Sorry! I'm Albus Potter. Nice to meet you.' Albus sat down and the other two followed.

'Potter, as in Harry Potter?'

Rose snorted. 'Sorry,' she laughed when they both looked at her. 'I was just waiting to see how long anyone would mention Uncle Harry. Ten minutes,' she added as she checked her watch.

Simon explained that he had read a few books aimed to introduce him to the wizarding world and had come across Albus' dad numerous times. 'I hadn't realised he had kids my age though!'

He looked at Rose. 'Harry Potter's your uncle?'

She grinned. 'Yeah. Me and Al are cousins. Dad and Al's mum are brother and sister.'

Simon thought for a moment. 'Weasley…hang on, I know that name…Ron Weasley?'

'Yep. He's my Dad. Mum's Hermione Granger…'

Simon's jaw dropped.

Rose turned to Albus who was staring at Simon bemusedly. 'I thought it was best to get that out of the way as soon as possible. Mum warned me it might be a bit weird.'

Albus just nodded. Simon still had his mouth open.

'But…but…you two are like celebrity kids…and you're talking to me!' Albus rolled his eyes.

'Our parents did all the amazing stuff. Not us. We're just normal kids. Don't expect anything special from us. So what was it like finding out you're a wizard?' Albus said, wanting to steer the conversation away from his family. The countryside rolled by as Simon started talking about how Neville Longbottom had turned up at his house one day and explained that he, Simon, was a wizard. Simon seemed to Albus, to still not quite believe his luck.

Rose peppered him with questions, which Simon dutifully answered. Albus sat back and listened, still worried about the sorting, despite what his father had told him at the station. After half an hour, James dropped by with some of his friends who he quickly introduced as Nathaniel Thomas, a tall, black boy and Thaddeus Thane, a short, round-faced blonde boy. Both threatened to curse him for using their full names. They quickly taught Simon the rules of Exploding Snap (not really all that hard) and soon had a rollicking game happening. Simon looked rather alarmed when Rose's eyebrow's were singed off, but Rose just shrugged and Nate reassured him that Madam Pomfrey or one of the teachers could put her to rights in no time.

After awhile, Albus noticed that a lot of students were walking past, and he could have sworn he'd seen the girl with the blonde plaits go past three times already. James noticed him watching. 'Don't worry. It was worse last year. First son of the famous Harry Potter and all, you're not so much of a novelty. You're only the second son.'

'Gee thanks. But Dad's not _that_ famous is he?' James just looked at his friends and rolled his eyes.

'You'll see,' was all Thad would say.

Nate asked them all what houses they want to be in, and then had to spend five minutes explaining about the Hogwarts Houses, and the Sorting to Simon. James resumed his earlier teasing.

'Al's gonna be in Slytherin, aren't you Al?'

'James! Mum said to stop it! And I'll be in Gryffindor like you and Dad and Mum and everyone.' Albus replied stubbornly, crossing his arms over his chest and staring stonily out the window.

'What about you Rosie? You could be in Ravenclaw, you like books enough.'

'I might consider it, just to get away from you, James Sirius Potter!' James just laughed.

Thad turned to Simon who was watching this exchange with a strange expression on his face.

'How about you Simon?'

'I – I don't know. Gryffindor sounds pretty good…'

'Yes! It's the best!'

The witch with the food trolley came around, and they all bought a pile of food to share. Albus was having fun introducing Simon to all the wizarding snacks and watching his reactions as they ate their way through a packet of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans. Albus got toast, marmalade, carrot, coffee, vanilla, peach, brussel sprouts and vinegar – all in all, not too bad. Simon wasn't as lucky. He got burnt toast, kidneys, coconut, pepper, earwax, turnip and broccoli. Rose felt sorry for him and picked out a few nice ones for him.

They also had fun exchanging chocolate wizard cards. Once Simon was over the way the frogs actually moved, they proceeded to the more important task of examining and trading the cards.

'Oh damn it,' Rose cried. 'I got your Dad again Al! I have about twenty of him.' Albus swapped her Agrippa for his father and sat staring at his father's card for a while. It was rather difficult to merge the ideal of Harry Potter with his Dad. He read the back of the card after watching his father scratch his nose for a few minutes.

_Harry James Potter, once known as The Boy Who Lived. Twice defeated the dark wizard Lord Voldemort, first when he was a baby and secondly (and finally) when he was 17. Potter is currently Head of the Auror Office. Mr Potter enjoys Quidditch and spending time with his family. _

Simon was avidly watching three cards: Albus Dumbledore, Fred Weasley and Merlin.

'They're moving!'

'Well of course they are.' James drawled.

'Muggle pictures don't move, stupid. Simon's Muggle-born.' Rose loftily informed her older cousin. James just shrugged and asked what that mattered.

When it was getting dark, the compartment door slid open again. It was their older cousin, Victoire Weasley, shiny new Head Girl badge pinned to her robes, long blond hair and just as pretty as her mother. Simon, Nate and Thad all stared at her.

'You lot had better get changed. We're nearly there.'

'Oi! What were you doing snogging Teddy!'

'James!' Rose admonished.

Victoire glared at him. 'None of your business James Potter! Now get changed before I take points from you.' She glared at James, who looked at her flabbergasted, until he rose and stalked out of the compartment, muttering about girls and not understanding them. Nate and Thad quickly followed him, staring reverently at Victoire over their shoulders.

Once they were gone, Victoire's softened and she smiled at Rose and Albus. 'Sorry about that. Your brother's just…'

'A pain?'

Victoire laughed, then looked at Rose properly. 'What on earth happened to your eyebrows? You look hideous!'

'Exploding Snap,' Rose muttered. Victoire got out her wand and waved it, and Rose's eyebrows were back to normal. Simon looked impressed.

'Thanks Vicky!'

'Well anyway, you really should get changed; we'll be there in a few minutes. I just wanted to make sure you two were all right.' With that she turned and flowed off up the carriage.

Simon still looked rather shell-shocked by her appearance. He gave himself a quick shake as she left.

'Wow…who was she?'

'Our cousin, Victoire, she's Head Girl this year! Grandma Weasley was so proud. Uncle George teased her _terribly_ though.' Rose informed Simon, evidently remembering the last family gathering where Uncle George had groaned 'not another one!' when Aunt Fleur had proudly announced her eldest daughters achievement. He hadn't let up all night, although Albus was pretty sure that Uncle George was only joking.

They all got out their robes and pulled them on. When they arrived at Hogsmeade Station an announcement came over telling them to leave all their belongings on the train and they dismantled into the swarming crowd that now covered the platform. He saw Victoire in the distance, directing students. James, Nate and Thad were whispering conspiringly as they made their way over to her.

'Firs' years! Firs' years!'

'Hagrid!' Rose and Albus cried at the same time. They grabbed Simon and made their way over towards the gamekeeper.

'Woah, he's massive!' Simon said in amazement as they drew closer.

'Yeah, his mother was a giant,' Rose informed him.

'Hello you two!' Hagrid greeted them when they reached him. He continued calling out for all first years, and when he was satisfied they made their way down a bank and along a path. It was rather dark and slippery walking along, but they finally came to the lake and Hogwarts came into view. It was spectacular and Albus heard a lot of the students gasp in wonder. Hagrid grinned down at him.

'Beautiful innit?' Albus agreed, looking at the sparkling castle on the mountain across the lake.

'No more'n four to a boat!' Hagrid called, pointing to a flee of little boats that were sitting in front of them.

Albus, Rose, Simon and a small dark haired girl with bright red cheeks who introduced herself as Katherine Roberts all got into a boat.

'Everyone in?' Hagrid called out. 'Right then, FORWARD!'

The little boats started moving of their own accord across the lake, which was slightly rough as the wind started to pick up. Everyone was silent, staring at the castle that was steadily growing larger. The boats reached the cliff that the edge of the castle stood on and they all bent down as the boats sailed through a curtain of ivy into a dark tunnel. The boats led them up the tunnel and into a small underground harbour where they all clambered out onto the pebbly shore. Simon looked rather green.

'Seasick,' he muttered when Albus looked enquiringly at him.

Hagrid called for them all to follow him, and he led them up another passageway, coming out at last onto smooth flat grass, right at the base of the mighty castle. They followed Hagrid up a flight of stone steps and crowded around Hagrid as he knocked on a huge, oak door.

The door swung open, light streaming across the lawn. Neville stood there.

'The firs' years, Professor Longbottom.'

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More to come. Please Review! 


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **All characters from the Harry Potter books belong to J.K Rowling and associated publishers.

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**Chapter Two: The Sorting**

Albus stared at Neville, no _Longbottom_, he corrected himself. That was another thing he would have to get used to: Neville being his teacher and not a kindly uncle-like figure. Neville was decked out in his best robes and surveyed them critically. He opened the huge doors wide, ushering them in. Albus had been here once before, but the site before him still impressed him. The entrance hall was huge. The great marble staircase rose in front of them, and torches lit the stone walls.

Professor Longbottom led them across the hall. They could hear the muffled sounds of hundreds of voices coming from behind another door. Albus supposed James and the other students were all in there. Nev-Professor Longbottom directed them into a small empty chamber, and once they were all gathered around and paying attention, addressed them.

'Welcome to Hogwarts! The start of term feast will begin shortly. Before that though, we need to sort you all. As many of you know, Hogwarts has four houses: Hufflepuff, Slytherin, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Each house has its own proud history and you will be an asset to whichever house you are placed in. While you are here, your house is your family. You will have your classes with your house-mates and also live with, sleep with and eat with them. At the end of each year, one house is awarded the House Cup, a great honour, and it is your responsibility as students to try and earn as many points as you can for your house…and try not to loose to many.' Longbottom paused as he looked around the crowd of first years.

'The Ceremony will start shortly. I suggest you smarten yourselves up a bit.' With that he turned and left them standing there. Everyone seemed to start muttering at once.

Rose asked him how her eyebrows were. Albus assured her that they were fine. 'Thank Merlin for Vicky…Imagine getting up in front of the whole school with no eyebrows!' Katherine laughed, and said she could have started a new fashion trend.

They stood around, getting more nervous as the seconds ticked by. Rose smiled reassuringly at Albus, who was dwelling on what house he would be in. He really didn't want to be in Slytherin. His whole family was in Gryffindor and Uncle Ron always went on about how evil Slytherins were. He was secretly afraid, no matter what his father had said, that everyone would hate him if he were a Slytherin.

'All right,' said Neville as he came back into the chamber. 'If you will please form a line and follow me.'

The new students did dutifully what the professor told them. Albus found himself behind the blond boy that Uncle Ron had pointed out at the station. He didn't say anything to him. The boy looked even more nervous than Albus. They walked though a short passage way and came out into the Great Hall, facing all of the other students. Albus drank in the sight. He had been here before, but he had never seen it look so beautiful. Thousands of glittering candles floated in the air above the tables where the rest of the students were sitting. Albus spotted James grinning at him from the table on the far left.

Albus' attention was quickly brought back to the forefront, when Neville – Professor Longbottom brought a four legged stool with the legendary Sorting Hat on it and placed it in front of the first years. There was complete silence in the hall.

The hat twitched, and the brim rippled and then the hat began to sing:

_A thousand years or more ago,  
__Two witches and two wizards,  
__The greatest of their Age,  
__All came together,  
__With one idea in mind  
__To gather all together  
__Those who needed teaching  
__And give them a feast of the mind  
__Those founders four the  
Greatest of their age,  
__Each valued virtues of their own  
__'Now where do you belong?  
__Try me on, and we shall see  
__If you are brave of heart  
Like bold Gryffindor,  
__Always ready for a fight, Here you might find your heart.  
Or perhaps with sweet Hufflepuff,  
where dwell those loyal and true, You will find your due.  
No not yet? How about clever  
Ravenclaw, to extend the Powers of the mind?  
Or perhaps you belong in Slytherin  
Noble, ambitious and cunning.  
But who knows yet? You have  
Not tried me on.  
Now trust in me, for I know best  
Where your true home lies._

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. Professor Longbottom stepped forward with a long piece of parchment.

'When I call out your name, please step forward and place the Sorting Hat on your head,' he said. 'Abbott, Quentin!'

A small boy with messy blonde gasped and ran over to the seat, jamming the hat on his head. It slid over his eyes. The hat deliberated for a moment before shouting

'HUFFLEPUFF!'

The table on the right cheered, as Quentin grinned and made his way over to them.

'Alderton, Mary!'

'SLYTHERIN!'

The table on the far right roared, and Mary dashed over there with a wane smile.

'Aubrey, Bernard!' also become a Slytherin and 'Bagman, Natasha' joined Quentin Abbott at the Hufflepuff table. 'Bagnold, Lucy' became the first Ravenclaw, followed straight away by 'Belby, Marcia.'

'Black, Simon!' Albus held his breath as his new friend stepped forward. Simon was looking even greener than when they had gotten out of the boat. He stumbled towards the stool and hesitantly placed the hat on his head. It was a few moments before the hat shouted –

'GRYFFINDOR!'

Looking relieved, Simon walked over to the Gryffindor table on shaky legs. James, Thad and Nate all thumped him on the back.

'Blane, Lucretia' became another Slytherin and 'Bones, Alexander' joined Simon at the Gryffindor table. A tall blonde girl named 'Bruhn, Etta' also went to Gryffindor, while 'Bulstrode, Belvina' was made a Slytherin. She looked rather scary, Albus thought.

Albus was really starting to get nervous now. He studied the Slytherin table, wondering if he could possibly fit in there. Mary Alderton looked rather pleasant, but Lucretia Blane looked downright nasty. Or perhaps that was just due to the ghost she was sitting next to.

He glanced back over at the Gryffindor table. James, Thad and Nate were busy whispering to Simon and Etta Bruhn. Victoire was sitting further up the table. She caught Albus' eye and smiled reassuringly at him. Looking around he spotted more Weasley cousins at the table; Victoire's younger sisters – Arienne and Odette and Uncle Percy's two sons Fabian and Gideon. Next to Odette was a misty silver figure, who, from James's rather vivid descriptions, Albus gathered to be Nearly Headless Nick. Gideon was smirking at her.

Albus shook himself and turned his attention back to the Sorting.

'Malfoy, Scorpius!'

The blonde boy next to him walked forward. Albus was relieved to note that he didn't seem to be the only one who was shaking. The boy, Scorpius, took a deep breath before placing the hat on his head. It took the longest time yet before finally shouting,

'RAVENCLAW!'

Scorpius emerged from under the hat extremely pale and sick looking. The handshakes and slaps on the back that he received as he joined his new house didn't seem to be making him feel any better.

'Nelson, John...O'Connor, Steven...Osborne, Cecil...Parkinson, Marius...'

It would soon be his turn. He hardly listened as 'Penrose, Phoebe' became a Ravenclaw, and then a pair of twins 'Pince, Agathe' and 'Pince, Isla' went to Slytherin and Ravenclaw respectively.

'Potter, Albus!'

Albus took a deep breath. This was it. He forced his legs, which felt a lot like jelly, to move and took the hat from the waiting Professor Longbottom who smiled encouragingly at him and murmured 'Good luck, Al.'

'Ah, another Potter,' came a voice in his ear. 'My, you are hard to place. You could do well anywhere, you know.'

_Not Slytherin, not Slytherin_, Albus thought desperately.

'Are you sure? Better be GRYFFINDOR!'

Albus breathed a sigh of relief as he took the hat off. Professor Longbottom beamed at him and he could hear James yelling before he was swamped with Potter/Weasley hugs and congratulations.

Albus relaxed and watched the rest of the Sorting with pleasure, feeling immeasurably lighter than he had in weeks. He couldn't wait to write to his parents and let them know. He cheered along with the rest as Rose joined him at the Gryffindor table, quickly followed by 'Wood, Jessica.'

Professor Longbottom put the Hat and stool away after 'Yu, Zan' became a Hufflepuff.

Quiet came over the hall again, as a small witch with flyaway grey hair and a sprig of ivy pinned to her hat stood up.

'Welcome back to another year of Hogwarts! To all our new first years; a special, warm welcome! I am Professor Sprout, Headmistress of this school. Before we begin our marvellous feast, I would like us all to offer thanks to the hard-working elves of Hogwarts!' She paused and gestured to a large group of elves standing to the side who Albus hadn't noticed before. As one they bowed, and with a tremendous crack, all disappeared.

'I have a few announcements to make, but they can wait until after the feast. Enjoy!'

And with that, food suddenly appeared, so much that it made the tables groan with the weight of it. Albus thought it looked almost as good as Grandma Weasley's cooking.

For the first few minutes, everyone was concentrating too much on eating to talk much. After they'd eaten their fill and the puddings had appeared, talk turned to introductions and their families.

Simon wasn't the only muggle-born. There were also two girls, Etta Bruhn and Aisha Kader who had not known anything about magic until Neville had visited them. Rose and the other three girls, Moira Finnegan who Albus had met a few times before; Jessica Wood who told Albus she had met him once at a Quidditch match but didn't expect him to remember as he'd been arguing with James at the time and hadn't paid her any attention (Albus belatedly apologised); and Elladora Graves who Albus didn't seem to be connected to in any way, promised to help them acclimatise to the magical world if they needed it, Rose proudly informing them that her own mother was a muggle-born so she knew all about it.

'Are you related to Susan Bones?' Moira asked Alexander who nodded enthusiastically.

'Yeah! She's my aunt,' he said, looking slyly at Rose and Albus. 'Not the most famous connection in the year though.'

Rose sighed. 'Ok, just to get this out of the way right up, Harry and Ginny Potter are _normal people_. So are Hermione and Ron Weasley. They are just normal parents who nag us to clean our rooms and stuff...just normal stuff...normal parents...' she trailed off as they all stared at her. 'What, they are! Tell them Al!'

Albus just shrugged. Jessica Wood stared at him.

'But your mum is the best player the Harpies have had in centuries. She's _amazing_. And I am thoroughly blaming you for her premature retirement!' They all laughed. Jessica continued, 'I want to be just like her when I grow up...well apart from the retiring to have mini-Potter's...'

'What about you, Herbert?' Albus asked the ginger haired boy opposite him, changing the topic. Herbert looked a bit startled to be addressed by someone with such famous parents.

'What? Me? There's nothing special about me.'

Rose rolled her eyes. 'Well what d'you usually get called?'

'Er...Herbert.'

'I'm sorry, but I refuse to call an eleven year old Herbert, maybe when we're 60. Herb fine with you?' Moira chimed in.

'While we're on names, you can call me just Ella. Please.' Albus grinned.

'Elladora, Herbert and Albus Severus,' he paused as the other first years digested his full name. 'What were our parents thinking?'

Etta giggled. 'Oh I don't know. It's not as bad as Gertrude Gudgeon. Gerty Gudgeon.'

Herb grinned. 'Or Scorpius. I think that trumps Albus Severus combined.' Albus laughed along with the others and glanced over at the Ravenclaw table where Scorpius Malfoy was still looking exceptionally pale.

'He doesn't look too happy,' he murmured to Rose. James overheard him.

'Of course he isn't. His whole family's been in Slytherin. He's probably dreading the Howler his dad is going to send him!'

The puddings disappeared and Professor Sprout rose again. The hall fell silent.

'Attention please... Thank you. Just a few notices before you go to you dormitories. First years should note that the Forbidden Forest is called that for a reason, and is out of bounds. Mr Filch would also like me to remind you all that magic should not be used in the corridors or between classes. The updated list of banned objects can be found on Mr Filch's door. Please check this if you are unsure.

'Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. All interested persons should contact their House Captain or Madam Hooch. Thank you for your attention. Good night to you all.'

There was a great clattering and scrapping as the students all began to rise and make their way out of the hall.

'Gryffindor first years! Over here!' Albus and the other first years followed the call to an older girl with long brown hair and a shiny prefect badge on her robes.

'All here? Good. I'm the fifth year prefect, Jennifer Widenose. If you have any problems you can come to me, or any of the other prefects. Oi! Tony!' She directed this last to a tall boy with black hair who seemed to be trying to sneak away. 'Get back here! First years, this is the other fifth year prefect (although I don't know _how_), Tony Fitzgerald. I would suggest you come to me before him, 'cause he's a useless git, aren't you Tony?' The boy called Tony just smiled meekly and ducked back into the crowd after a quick wave at the first years. Jennifer Widenose huffed and then led them out of the Great Hall and up a myriad of stairs and corridors until they came to a stop before a great portrait that Albus instantly recognised at the Fat Lady from his father's stories.

'The password is Phoenix feather,' Jennifer said as she led them through the portrait hole and into the Gryffindor common room. It was a cosy room with lots of nice squishy arm chairs and a roaring fire in the fireplace. She directed the boys through one door and the girls through another.

The four boys climbed the stairs until they reached a landing with a door that said 'FIRST YEARS'. Four four-poster beds were waiting for them, with their trunks already arranged. Albus quickly found his and pulled out his pyjamas. He'd meant to write to his parents to tell them all about the Sorting, but suddenly found himself too tired and decided to do it the next day. He climbed into bed, and glanced over at Simon in the bed next to him. Simon grinned.

'Great food, eh? This place is amazing...'

Albus agreed and was going to ask Simon if he'd noticed the ghosts but fell asleep almost at once.

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